04.05.17 - Brown's obituaries

04.05.17 

From reading the obituaries of dee brown i was able to receive information about brown as a historian; how his context influenced his focus an dhow he constructs history. i was also able to understand how the book was received and his legacy as a writer to develop our understanding of the west. In my last blog post i explained that there were various historians which the same intensions as brown, with these obituaries i am able to understand why brown has been credited for dispelling the myth solely due to this unique background and construction methods. 

Background / Biography
Brown was born in Louisiana USA in 1908 however moved to and grew up in Arkansas after his fathers passing at age five. Here, the western legend was still "fresh in the minds"1 of its people, his great grandmother had known Davey crocket. 2
It is understood that brown first started to explore the false history of the west when his native american friend stated that "those aren't real indians" while watching a movie about the west. 3

A theme throughout all of browns writing is challenge and changing perspectives. As a teenager he wrote tough editorials for his neighbourhood tabloid, including one that condemned the booming local oil business for ''assassinating'' the environment. 4  Throughout his career he seemed to show things in a different perspective, as example of this is 'gentle tamers; women of the old wild west' which sought to dispel the sunbonnet myth of stoic pioneer women.  

Brown was a librarian by training and historian/novelist by vocation, throughout his career he wrote more than 30 books about the american west. 5 He earned library degrees and worked as a government librarian before and after World War II (his military service was as a librarian) and he eventually joined the library at the University of Illinois, becoming a professor. He remained there until his retirement in 1972. 6 After 40 years of writing about the west he wrote bury my heart, while he was a librarian. 7

Bury my Heart Construction 
In constructing his work brown states he saw himself as a "very, very old Indian, and I'm remembering the past.. I'm looking toward the Atlantic Ocean.'' 8, this quote demonstrates his perspective on the past, while he is a Anglo-Saxon born in the 20th century, he tries to construct history from the view of the victim. 
As a librarian he had access and had the knowledge to a variety of sources, when questioned, dee stated "i have documents for everything" 9. sources are derived from accounts by native american interpreters who attended treaty sessions, meetings with US army officers and other proceedings, and eyewitness accounts of battles 10.  

Impact and Significance
dee brown was not the first to note the victims indians past, several others around the time also were growingly concerned with this false history however brown is often credited for opening up public conscious. None of his other books attracted such attention. 
The hollywood myth was a main source in delivering this false version of history brown fought against. it burnished he Eurocentric point of view.m
- "bury my heart was a rebuttal of decades of hollywood fantasy about the west" 11 
- "remained hidden for many years, aided by mythology" 12

quotes about impact
- "Wounded Knee opened the way for the modern school of revisionist historians, who have largely confirmed Brown's perception that, rather than a triumph of pioneers, the west was subdued by a bloody, military conquest of native Americans that amounted to genocide." 13
- "caught revisionist mood" about westward expansion 14
- ''The West is a tragedy relieved by interludes of comedy. It is a tale of good and evil, a morality play of personified abstractions. '' (dee brown from the westerners) 15
- "mr browns portrayal of white beastliness and indian saintliness entered the public consciousness" 16



1. ‘Dee Brown, historian of the American west, died on December 12th, aged 94’, The Economist, 19 december 2002, http://www.economist.com/node/1503288#print, (accessed 29.03.17)
2. D. Martin, ‘Dee Brown, 94, Author Who Revised Image of West’, The New York Times, 14 december 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/14/arts/dee-brown-94-author-who-revised-image-of-west.html,  (accessed 29.03.17)
3. Dee Brown, historian of the American west, died on December 12th, aged 94’, The Economist, 19 december 2002, http://www.economist.com/node/1503288#print, (accessed 29.03.17) 4. D. Martin, ‘Dee Brown, 94, Author Who Revised Image of West’, The New York Times, 14 december 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/14/arts/dee-brown-94-author-who-revised-image-of-west.html,  (accessed 29.03.17)
5. C. Reed, ‘Writer who exposed the myth of the American west’, The Guardian, 17 december 2002, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/17/guardianobituaries, (accessed 29.03.17) 6. D. Martin, ‘Dee Brown, 94, Author Who Revised Image of West’, The New York Times, 14 december 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/14/arts/dee-brown-94-author-who-revised-image-of-west.html,  (accessed 29.03.17) 7. ‘Dee Brown, historian of the American west, died on December 12th, aged 94’, The Economist, 19 december 2002, http://www.economist.com/node/1503288#print, (accessed 29.03.17) 8. D. Martin, ‘Dee Brown, 94, Author Who Revised Image of West’, The New York Times, 14 december 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/14/arts/dee-brown-94-author-who-revised-image-of-west.html,  (accessed 29.03.17)
9. ibid
10. C. Reed, ‘Writer who exposed the myth of the American west’, The Guardian, 17 december 2002, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/17/guardianobituaries, (accessed 29.03.17)

11. ‘Dee Brown, historian of the American west, died on December 12th, aged 94’, The Economist, 19 december 2002, http://www.economist.com/node/1503288#print, (accessed 29.03.17)

12. ibid

13. C. Reed, ‘Writer who exposed the myth of the American west’, The Guardian, 17 december 2002, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/17/guardianobituaries, (accessed 29.03.17)

14. ‘Dee Brown, historian of the American west, died on December 12th, aged 94’, The Economist, 19 december 2002, http://www.economist.com/node/1503288#print, (accessed 29.03.17)

15. D. Martin, ‘Dee Brown, 94, Author Who Revised Image of West’, The New York Times, 14 december 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/14/arts/dee-brown-94-author-who-revised-image-of-west.html,  (accessed 29.03.17)

16. ibid